Edgewater To Spend Nearly $15 Million On Improving Canals

Edgewater, FL - City officials in Edgewater are rejoicing after the city was awarded nearly $15 million in funds earmarked for infrastructure repairs; making it the only city in Volusia awarded under the highly competitive grant program. The $14,697,665 grant came as part of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s Rebuild Florida Infrastructure Repair Program and gives the city a chance to improve and restore infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Irma. According to a release, city officials have decided to use the money to improve part of the 24 miles of canals that provide flood relief and stormwater discharge throughout the city. Specifically, the funds will go towards improving the G-2 and G-11 canals—both encompass about 350 acres and affect over 700 properties—which flooded during Hurricane Irma due to storm surge conditions in the Indian River. The design and construction of these improvements will occur over the course of the next several years. Hurricane Irma, which made landfall in September 2017, eroded over 20 miles of beaches up and down the coast of Volusia and caused major damage to over 100 major buildings. Irma was also the fourth costliest hurricane in U.S. history with damages totalling over $77 billion dollars.